


Just For Tonight

by Nebbles



Category: Mother 3
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-20
Updated: 2019-01-20
Packaged: 2019-10-13 11:51:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 859
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17487539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nebbles/pseuds/Nebbles
Summary: A few months had passed since the incident, yet time’s cruelty made it feel longer.





	Just For Tonight

It was odd, getting used to a quiet house. The excited footsteps of children and the warm laughter of a loving mother no longer filled its walls. The air hung around Flint and Lucas, thick and choking, sadness drowning their senses. 

A few months had passed since the incident, yet time’s cruelty made it feel longer. Days blended into nothingness for Flint, and he had hoped the monotony would’ve made it more bearable. 

Wake up. Cook him and Lucas breakfast.

Visit Hinawa.

Search for Claus until the sun sank below the ill-fated mountains. 

Hike until blisters covered the soles of his feet.

Return home. Tuck Lucas into bed.

Look for a few more hours. 

Sleep for what felt like nothing at all, and repeat. 

As far as his knowledge went, Lucas seldom left the house if Hinawa’s grave wasn’t involved. Villagers would report him sleeping on the soft grass next to it, curled up with his hands wrapped around a single sunflower.

No one could pry that sunflower from Lucas’ hold until it withered. Flint would see crinkled, dry petals litter the floor of their home, and he’d do nothing but sigh. 

He hadn’t the heart to throw them away. He stored them in the drawer that contained the scrap of cloth from Hinawa’s dress and Claus’ shoes. 

Her letter, the last words Flint had from Hinawa, was safely tucked into his hat. He’d read it often out on the mountains, sending promises to the wind that he’d find their boy. 

Claus had to be alive. He couldn’t lose both wife and one of his children in one night. He couldn’t let down Hinawa. If he was gone, facing her would feel impossible. 

He already wanted forgiveness for the trauma inflicted upon Lucas and Claus. In the back of his mind, Flint wondered what would’ve happened if he’d gone along with them. If someone stayed in Tazmily to watch the sheep. Would things have gone differently? Or if they had stayed one more night, or the villagers found them just a bit earlier…

Mere fantasies did nothing but make reality all that more bitter. Flint knew it’d do him no good to think about every what if that’d give him his family back.

He could only hope Lucas wouldn’t get crushed under guilt of his own. No kid needed to think the death of someone else was on their hands. 

It was just too unfair.

Silently, he pulled the covers over Lucas, who had a fresh sunflower in his hold. 

“Dad.” His voice is too quiet. Lucas had always been soft-spoken, yet never to this degree. “...is Claus ever gonna come home?”

“Of course.” Flint combed through his hair, much like how Hinawa used to. “He’s just lost.”

“It’s been months. If he wanted to come home, he would…” Lucas doesn’t even seem comforted by the touch. “Is he dead, too?”

“Don’t say things like that.” Lucas was too young to be toiling with the concept of his brother’s mortality. “He’s alive. I’m sure of it.”

“Then why isn’t he home?” Lucas looked at the empty space next to him on their bed. 

“He’s just lost in the mountains.” Flint wondered if he was saying these words for Lucas’s sake, or his own. “I’ll bring him home, Lucas. I promise.”

Lucas didn’t say anything, and buried his face in the pillow, letting out another stream of tears. No matter how many tears he shed, it tore at Flint’s heart to see his son cry like that. The other villagers chided Lucas for being a crybaby, and the idea of one be mocked for sadness was beyond him. 

Of course Lucas would cry. Anyone would in his situation. It’s only natural.

“I-I know you wanna look for Claus, but… can you stay home tonight?” One of Lucas’ hands released its grip on the sunflower, and clung to Flint’s arm. “I don’t wanna be lonely…”

He couldn’t deny that request. He knew it. Yet a part of his mind told him that perhaps tonight would be the night he’d find Claus. And he’d wake up Lucas, a gentle smile on his face, being able to bask in the joy of reuniting two brothers. 

Another round of tears bore through Flint’s heart. He removed his hat, reaching over to place it on the drawer. He could only hope Hinawa’s spirit was watching over Claus, ensuring his safety.

“Can I also sleep in your bed? Please?” It occurred to Flint how abandoned Lucas had felt. The twins’ bed seemed larger than Flint remembered. Lucas looked so tiny in it.

He very well knew the pain of an empty bed, and the chill that followed. He felt a tinge of guilt for making Lucas suffer through that as well.

Why couldn’t he find Claus? Where was he? Claus would be able to help Lucas far more than he would. With both boys home, the house wouldn’t feel this empty. It’d have more noises than just the tears of a broken-hearted child. 

“Of course.” Flint pulled Lucas close to him, rubbing his back with the most comfort he could muster. “I’ll stay tonight. I promise.”


End file.
